Storage cabinet with revolving shelves

ABSTRACT

Mounted within a square storage cabinet is a tier of revolving shelves each shaped generally as a three-quarters circle having a diameter approximately equal to the square dimension of the cabinet to avoid wasted space in the cabinet. Each shelf is formed with one straight edge located to enable tiers of trays attached to two swinging cabinet doors to be made of an optimum depth permitting the trays to fill the space between the shelves and the doors when the latter are closed. Detent mechanisms hold the shelves in centered positions within the cabinet and resist any tendency of the shelves to spin uncontrollably when turned out of the centered positions. The door trays are hooked detachably onto standards fastened to the inner sides of the doors and are constructed to avoid leaving objectionable gaps between the doors and the trays.

United States Patent [54] STORAGE CABINET WITH REVOLVING SHELVES 3Claims, 10 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl.

Primary Examiner- Paul R. Gilliam AnarneyWolfe, Hubbard, Leydig, Voit &Osann ABSTRACT: Mounted within a square storage cabinet is a tier ofrevolving shelves each shaped generally as a three-quarters circlehaving a diameter approximately equal to the square dimension of thecabinet to avoid wasted space in the cabinet. Each shelf is formed withone straight edge located to enable tiers of trays attached to twoswinging cabinet doors to be made of an optimum depth permitting thetrays to fill the 108/139 space between the shelves and the doors whenthe latter are lnt. c| ed Delent mechanisms the shelves in centeredposi- A471 95/00- A471 1 1/00 tions within the cabinet and resist anytendency of the shelves of Search 3 to spin uncontrollably when turnedout of [he centered posi- 324,202, 248343.417 tions. The door trays arehooked detachably onto standards 7 f fastened to the inner sides of thedoors and are constructed to [56] Re "wees Cned avoid leavingobjectionable gaps between the doors and the UNITED STATES PATENTS160,227 2/1875 Pool 312/305 X 1,828,311 10/1931 Bink 248/417 Z3 s 7 mm Ew PATENTED 02:21 ml $628,844

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sum 3 or 3 W Bruce QfLFl edfiu A; 49% W v41? M 04 ro m2 7/ STORAGECABINET WITH REVOLVING SHELVES CROSS-REFERENCE TO A RELATED APPLICATIONThis application is a division of my copending application Ser. No.713,820, filed Mar. 18, 1968 and now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The general objectof the invention is to provide novel detent mechanisms capable ofreleasably retaining the revolving shelves in normal centered positionsin the cabinet and capable of resisting unduly free rotation of theshelves when the latter are turned out of their centered positions.

The invention also resides in the use of the detent mechanisms tojournal the shelves for rotation, in the unique arrangement of thedetent mechanisms to prevent looseness of the shelves after continuedservice use and in the comparatively simple and inexpensive constructionof the detent mechanisms.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent fromthe following detailed description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of astorage cabinet embodying the new and improved features of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a cross section taken substantially along the line 2-2 of FIG.1 and showing the cabinet doors in open positions.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view similar to FIG. 2 but showing the cabinetdoors in closed positions.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary cross section taken sub-' stantiallyalong the line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of parts shown in FIG. 4 with certainelements broken away and shown in section.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross section taken substantially along the line6-6 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a cross section taken substantially along the line 7-7 of FIG.5.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a tray of the type adapted to be mountedon the cabinet doors.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged fragmentary cross section taken substantiallyalong the line 9-9 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary front elevational view of parts shown in FIG.9.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As shown in thedrawings for purposes of illustration, the invention is embodied in astorage cabinet having a tier of vertically spaced shelves 16 which maybe revolved individually within the cabinet to various angular positionswith respect to a front access opening 17 to enable articles to beplaced on or removed from the shelves in any easy manner. Two uprightdoors 19 are hinged to the cabinet along opposite sides of the openingand may be swung between positions opening and closing the cabinet.

Herein, the cabinet is substantially square in cross section andincludes top and bottom walls 20 and 21 interconnected by a front wall23, a rear wall 24 and a pair of sidewalls 25, the front wall beingformed by a series of narrow frame strips arranged in rectangle todefine the access opening 17. The doors are mounted on hinges 26attached to the front wall and each is approximately equal in width toone-half the width of the opening so that the latter is substantiallycovered when the doors are closed. Spanning the top and bottom walls andattached to the latter by brackets 27 (FIG. 4) is an upright post 29which rotatably mounts the revolving shelves 16. In this instance, fivesuch shelves are mounted on the post and are spaced vertically from oneanother by equal distances.

A tier of trays 30 are mounted on the inner side of each door 19 and arearranged relative to the shelves 16 to make effective use of almost allof the available storage space in the cabinet and to provide arelatively large total surface area for supporting articles. For thesepurposes, the shelves 16 are sized, shaped and located to leave aminimum of wasted space between the shelves and the cabinet sidewalls 25and the rear wall 24 and, at the same time, to leave only enough roomremaining in the front of the cabinet to accommodate trays 30 of optimumdepth when the doors are closed. The trays are made sufficiently deep tofill most of the space between the shelves and the front wall 23 of thecabinet but not so deep as to interfere with the trays on the other doorwhen the doors are opened and closed. With this arrangement, the traysand shelves leave little wasted space between the front, rear andsidewalls of the cabinet so that relatively large surface areas forsupporting articles are provided within a cabinet of given size.

In the present instance, five trays 30 are attached to each door 19 andeach is aligned horizontally with a different one of the revolvingshelves 16. Each tray extends substantially across the full width of itsrespective door and is of greater width w (FIG. 3) than depth d. Eachtray is located on the door in such a manner and is formed of such adepth d that the outboard corner 31 of each tray lies approximately onbut not beyond or outside of an are a extending about the axis of thehinges 26 of the door upon which the tray is mounted and extendingthrough the vertical free edge 33 of such door. As a result, the traysmay be located near the vertical edges of the doors and may be made of amaximum depth and yet will not interfere and strike the trays on theother doors when the doors are opened and closed either independently orsimultaneously.

With the trays 30 formed of an optimum depth d, the shelves 16 areshaped and located to fill most of the space between the trays, thesidewalls 25 and the rear wall 24 thereby to avoid wasting space withinthe cabinet 15. To these ends, the supporting post 29 is spacedequidistantly from the rear and sidewalls, herein being located at thegeometrical center of the square cabinet, and each shelf is shaped as apartial circle having a diameter approximately equal to but not greaterthan the width of the cabinet. In this way, the arcuate periphery 34 ofeach shelf is located directly adjacent the rear and sidewalls toprovide the maximum shelf area while still allowing turning of the shelfwithin the cabinet. As shown most clearly in FIG. 2, each shelf 16herein is slightly larger than a three-quarters circle and is formedalong one side with a straight edge 35 which faces and extends parallelto the doors 19 when the shelf is turned to a normal or centeredposition in the cabinet. The straight edge 35 extends across a chord ofthe circle defined by the arcuate periphery 34 of the shelf and isspaced from the inner sides of the doors a distance approximately equalto but not less than the depth d of the trays. With this arrangement,the shelves encompass practically the largest possible area of a circlecapable of fitting into the cabinet, and the straight edges 35. arelocated closely adjacent to but do not interfere with the trays 30 whenthe doors are closed. Accordingly, very little space is wasted since asubstantial portion of a given plane within the cabinet is filled with atray and a shelf.

According to the primary aspect of the invention, provision is made ofnovel detent mechanisms 36 (FIG. 5) for releasably holding the shelves16 in their normal centered positions and for resisting unduly freerotation of the shelves when the latter are turned from their centeredpositions. In this instance, each detent mechanism comprises astationary cam 37 anchored to the center post 29 and coacting with asimilar cam 39 on each shelf to latch the shelf in its centeredposition. When the shelf is turned from its centered position, the twocams frictionally bear against one another to resist any tendency of theshelf to spin uncontrollably on the post and to help hold the shelf inany position to which it is turned.

More specifically, each cam 37 comprises an inner circular supportingdisc 40 (FIGS. and 6) formed with a centrally located hole 41 whichreceives the post 29. A sleeve 43 of Del-- rin or other wear resistantplastic is telescoped over the disc and is formed with a downwardlyextending tongue 44 (FIG. 6) which is projected downwardly into a notch45 formed in the disc adjacent the hold 41. Advantageously, the post 29is formed from a tube of light gauge metal and is deformed inwardlyalong one side to define a depression 46 extending along the length ofthe post. To anchor the cam 37 securely to the post, a key 47 (FIG. 6)is formed on the disc adjacent the hole 41 and is projected inwardlyinto the depression 46. A setscrew 49 extending inwardly through thesleeve 43 is threaded into the disc and the tongue 44 and bears againstthe side of the post opposite the depression 46 to draw the key 47tightly into the depression and thereby rigidly anchor the cam 37against rotation on the post.

Each cam 39 is formed on the lower end surface of a generallyfrustoconical supporting hub 50 (FIGS. 4 and 5) fastened to theunderside of each shelf and formed with a centrally located bore 51which loosely receives the post 29 to mount the shelf 16 both forrotation and for up and down sliding on the post. The lower end of thehub 50 and the upper side of the sleeve 43 are both formed with camsurfaces which include a lower dwell portion 53 extending around a shortare of the hub and the sleeve, a pair of rise portions 54 inclinedupwardly from the lower dwell portions at an angle of about and an upperdwell portion 55 extending between the ends of the rise portions andthrough a greater arc than the lower dwell portions. When each shelf isdisposed in its centered position with its straight edge 35 facing thedoors 19, the upper and lower rise portions 53 and 55 of the sleeve 43and the hub mate with each other as shown in FIG. 4 and, in addition,the rise portions 54 engage one another to retain the shelf releasablyin its centered position so that the doors may be closed. If the shelfis manually rotated in one direction or the other, one of the riseportions 54 on the hub 50 cams against one of the rise portions 54 onthe sleeve 43 to cause the shelf to slide upwardly on the post 29 and tofree the shelf for rotation away from its centered position. Withcontinued rotation of the shelf, the lower dwell portion 53 of the hub50 rides along and bears against the upper dwell portion of the plasticsleeve 43 as shown in FIG. 5 and develops sufficient friction to retardunduly free rotation of the shelf and to stop the shelf when themanualturning force is removed. The shelf thus will tend to remain inany position to which it is turned. As the shelf is returned to itscentered position, the rise portions 54 on the hub 50 ride downwardly onand then bear against the rise portions 54 on the sleeve 43 to latch theshelf once again in its centered position and thus avoid any danger ofthe aligned tray 30 striking the arcuate periphery 34 of the shelf whenthe doors are closed.

Preferably, a cylindrical bushing 56 (FIGS. 5 and 7) is formedintegrally with each plastic sleeve 43 and is telescoped over the post29 and into the bore 51 in the overlying hub 50. Each bushing projectsupwardly from the rise portions 54 and the upper and lower dwellportions 53 and 55 of the sleeve and establishes a bearing which servesto mount the shelf 16 slidably and rotatably on the post. The lower halfof the portion of the bushing 56 extending upwardly from the lower dwellportion 53 of the sleeve is not subjected to wear when the shelf isbeing turned through positions other than its centered position and thussuch lower half of the bushing tends to retain its original diameter toinsure that, even after long service ,use, the shelf will not loosen upand tip on the post when the shelf is disposed in its centered position.An additional bushing 57 is telescoped into the bore 51 of the hub justbelow the shelf and also helps to keep the shelf from becoming loose onthe post.

Advantageously, the trays 30 are hooked detachably on standards 60fastened to the inner side of the doors 19 with the rear edges of thetrays lying directly alongside the doors so as to avoid leavingobjectionable gaps between the trays and the doors. As shown in FIGS. 1,9, and 10, two vertically extending and parallel standards of U-shapedcross section are fastened to the inner side of each door and each isformed with a series of vertically spaced holes or slots 61 in itsforward face for receiving hooks 63 on the trays. Each tray includes asubstantially rectangular sheet metal shelf 64 (FIG. 8) which is formedwith an upturned rim 65 along its front margin and with side panels 66turned upwardly from its side margins. Two of the hooks 63 are formed onthe rear edge 67 of each side panel 66 and are adapted to project intoone of the pairs of slots 61 in the standards 60 to attach the tray tothe door, the rear edges of the panels abutting the front faces of thestandards in the installed position of the tray. Preferably, the sidepanels and side margins of each tray are inclined toward one another ata slight angle so that the depth d of the tray shelf 64 may be increasedwhile still keeping the outboard corner 31 located within the are a toavoid interference with the trays on the other door.

As shown most clearly in FIGS. 8 and .9, the rear margin 70 of each tray30 is turned upwardly from the plane of the tray shelf 64 and isdisposed directly alongside the inner side of the door 19 in a positionlocated rearwardly or inwardly of the forward faces of the standards 60.To enable such close positioning of the rear margin 70 of the tray tothe door, squared notches 71 are formed in the rear corners of the trayshelf and are of a depth corresponding to the depth of the standards toallow the rear margin to project past the standards and to allow therear edges 67 of the side panels 66 to abut the forward faces of thestandards. Thus, the rear margins 70 of the trays lie alongside thedoors insteadof extending along the forward faces of the standards andcreating gaps of objectionable width between the trays and the doors.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a revolving shelf assembly adapted for mounting within a cabinet,the combination of, an upright post, a tier of vertically spaced andhorizontally disposed shelves each mounted for rotation and for up anddown sliding on said post, a supporting hub fastened to the underside ofeach shelf and rotatably and slidably telescoped over said post, a camtelescoped over and fastened rigidly to said post beneath each of saidsupporting hubs with each supporting hub resting on its underlying cam,coacting cam surfaces formed on the lower side of each supporting huband the upper side of each cam and engageable with one another to retainsaid shelf releasably in a predetermined angular position relative tosaid post, said cam surfaces being shaped to cause said shelf to slideupwardly on said post in response to the shelf being positively rotatedfrom said predetermined position and thereafter bearing frictionallyagainst one another, each of said coacting cam surfaces including alower dwell portion extending around an arc of predetermined length, tworise portions inclined upwardly from the ends of said lower dwellportion, and an upper dwell portion extending between the upper ends ofsaid rise portions and around an arc of greater length than said firstarc, the respective cam portions mating with one another when said shelfis in said predetermined position with said inclined portions bearingagainst each other to retain the shelf releasably in such position, andthe lower dwell portion of the cam surface on said supporting hubfrictionally engaging the upper dwell portion of the cam surface on saidcam when said shelf is rotated from said predetermined position therebyto resist unduly free rotation of the shelf one side of said post beingdeformed inwardly to define a depression extending along the side of thepost, each of said cams being formed with a centrally located holereceiving said post an inwardly extending key formed integrally witheach cam adjacent said hole and projecting into said depression, and ascrew threaded through each cam and bearing against the opposite side ofsaid post to draw said key tightly into said depression and thereby lockthe cam against rotation on the post.

2. A revolving shelf assembly as defined in claim 1 in which each camincludes a cylindrical bushing formed integrally with and projectingupwardly from said cam surface on said cam, said bushing beingtelescoped over said post and into one of said supporting hubs to mountthe latter rotatably and slidably on the post.

3. A shelf assembly as defined in claim 1 in which each of said camscomprises an inner supporting disc fastened to said

1. In a revolving shelf assembly adapted for mounting within a cabinet,the combination of, an upright post, a tier of vertically spaced andhorizontally disPosed shelves each mounted for rotation and for up anddown sliding on said post, a supporting hub fastened to the underside ofeach shelf and rotatably and slidably telescoped over said post, a camtelescoped over and fastened rigidly to said post beneath each of saidsupporting hubs with each supporting hub resting on its underlying cam,coacting cam surfaces formed on the lower side of each supporting huband the upper side of each cam and engageable with one another to retainsaid shelf releasably in a predetermined angular position relative tosaid post, said cam surfaces being shaped to cause said shelf to slideupwardly on said post in response to the shelf being positively rotatedfrom said predetermined position and thereafter bearing frictionallyagainst one another, each of said coacting cam surfaces including alower dwell portion extending around an arc of predetermined length, tworise portions inclined upwardly from the ends of said lower dwellportion, and an upper dwell portion extending between the upper ends ofsaid rise portions and around an arc of greater length than said firstarc, the respective cam portions mating with one another when said shelfis in said predetermined position with said inclined portions bearingagainst each other to retain the shelf releasably in such position, andthe lower dwell portion of the cam surface on said supporting hubfrictionally engaging the upper dwell portion of the cam surface on saidcam when said shelf is rotated from said predetermined position therebyto resist unduly free rotation of the shelf one side of said post beingdeformed inwardly to define a depression extending along the side of thepost, each of said cams being formed with a centrally located holereceiving said post an inwardly extending key formed integrally witheach cam adjacent said hole and projecting into said depression, and ascrew threaded through each cam and bearing against the opposite side ofsaid post to draw said key tightly into said depression and thereby lockthe cam against rotation on the post.
 2. A revolving shelf assembly asdefined in claim 1 in which each cam includes a cylindrical bushingformed integrally with and projecting upwardly from said cam surface onsaid cam, said bushing being telescoped over said post and into one ofsaid supporting hubs to mount the latter rotatably and slidably on thepost.
 3. A shelf assembly as defined in claim 1 in which each of saidcams comprises an inner supporting disc fastened to said post and anouter sleeve made of plastic material telescoped over said disc anddefining the cam surface on said cam, said sleeve including acylindrical bushing formed integrally with and projecting upwardly fromsaid rise portions and said upper and lower dwell portions, and saidbushing being telescoped over said post and into one of said supportinghubs to mount the latter rotatably and slidably on the post.